Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 10:27:22 +0500
From: "Flynn Mclean"
Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 04/10/96
AIDS Daily Summary
April 10, 1996
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
service only. Providing this information does not constitute
endorsement by the CDC, the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any
other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however,
copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse
should be cited as the source of this information. Copyright 1996,
Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
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"FDA Clears DaunoXome for HIV-Related Cancer"
"A Little Shop Of Condoms (Horrors!)"
"A Ray of Light in Africa's Struggle with AIDS"
"UK: Faulty AIDS Test Affected Very Few"
"Zimbabwe's AIDS Organizations Praise Nkomo"
"Britons Swamp HIV Clinics After Test Scare"
"Endocytosis of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I
Molecules Is Induced by the HIV-1 Protein"
"Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD in Africa"
"Teleconferences Share Info on Fighting AIDS"
"AIDS Update: Absorbing News"
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"FDA Clears DaunoXome for HIV-Related Cancer"
Wall Street Journal (04/10/96) P. A4
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved NeXstar
Pharmaceuticals' anticancer drug DaunoXome for the treatment of
advanced HIV-related Kaposi's sarcoma. NeXstar said the drug is
as effective as other treatments but has fewer adverse side
effects. The company noted that it will start selling DaunoXome
at "competitive" prices. Following the announcement of approval,
NeXstar stock rose 12 percent in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
"A Little Shop Of Condoms (Horrors!)"
New York Times (04/10/96) P. B1; Nieves, Evelyn
When Bethany Drucker opened Condom Sense, Long Island, N.Y.'s
first condom store, in Huntington last month, she received a
telephone threat, a rock through the store's window, and
complaints from parents, townspeople, and store owners. Drucker,
26, says she did not expect the criticism. She saw the store as
a way to promote safe sex and take the stigma from buying
condoms. "It doesn't take a genius to know that Long Island has
the highest incidence of AIDS in this country for a suburban
area," she said. She says she chose Huntington, which has 80
arts organizations and 300 stores and restaurants, for its
sophistication and notes that, previously, her greatest concern
was that her store would be lost in a sea of better known stores
in the crowded business district. Condom Sense sells more than a
hundred types of condoms, as well as a few accessories and
novelties, but not X-rated tapes, books, magazines, or sexual
paraphernalia.
"A Ray of Light in Africa's Struggle with AIDS"
New York Times (04/07/96) P. 1; McKinley, James C.
For the first time since Ugandans began dying of AIDS in the
early 1980s, studies now show that the rates of HIV infection
among teen-agers and pregnant women have decreased. Disease
experts say that if the decline in infection continues, the new
generation of Ugandans will be less burdened by disease and early
death than previously expected. The trend also suggests that
controlling AIDS in Africa may be more possible than many
thought. For years, health experts had little hope of
controlling the rapid spread of HIV in the continent. Condoms
were seen as too expensive or unfamiliar, and high-risk sexual
habits were thought to be entrenched. But Ugandan teens say that
having seen so may people die of AIDS that they have changed
their sexual habits to avoid infection, including insisting on
condom use and having HIV tests before having sex. Mass
education efforts, advocating condoms, abstinence, and
faithfulness are also credited for the attitude change among
teens.
"UK: Faulty AIDS Test Affected Very Few"
United Press International (04/09/96)
According to a leading British AIDS charity, in spite of
concerns over a faulty AIDS test, only a small number of the 40,000
people who tested negative for HIV over the past six months are in
fact HIV-positive. Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence
Higgins Trust, a charity which has criticized the British
government for not revealing information about the faulty tests,
says that fewer than five of the 20,000 people screened with the
faulty test may be infected. The Department of Health said it
did not want to disclose the information until hospitals and
clinics using the test had been notified and a plan to retest
individuals was designed.
"Zimbabwe's AIDS Organizations Praise Nkomo"
Xinhua News Service (04/09/96)
Zimbabwe's AIDS organizations praised Vice-President Joshua
Nkomo on Tuesday for breaking with tradition by announcing that one
of his sons had died of the disease. The groups said they hope
that Nkomo's disclosure would help people to accept the disease as
they would any other. One group, Zimbabwe AIDS Network, intends
to meet with President Robert Mugabe in the near future to talk
about declaring AIDS a national disaster so that more resources
can be allocated to fight the disease. According to health
experts, 10 percent of Zimbabwe's citizens have been infected
with HIV and more than 150,000 have developed full blown AIDS
since 1987.
"Britons Swamp HIV Clinics After Test Scare"
Reuters (04/09/96)
Worried Britons flooded hospitals and clinics on Tuesday after
spending the long Easter weekend wondering if they needed to be
re-tested for HIV. It was estimated that some 20,000 British who
had tested negative for the virus would need to be tested again
because the test, made by Abbott Laboratories, was found to be
faulty. When the announcement was made on Friday, however,
doctors' offices and laboratories were already closed for the
four-day Easter holiday. Ben Kernighan, of the Terrence Higgins
Trust AIDS Charity, said the people most upset by the news were
those who based decisions, such as having unprotected sex or
getting pregnant, on their test result. The London Lighthouse,
another AIDS charity, received more than 6,000 calls over the
weekend. Doctors note that only a tiny proportion of people may
have been given the wrong result.
"Endocytosis of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I
Molecules Is Induced by the HIV-1 Protein"
Nature Medicine (03/96) Vol. 2, No. 3, P. 338; Schwartz, Oliver;
Marechal, Valerie; Le Gall, Slyvie; et al.
HIV-1 and other pathogenic viruses reduce the surface
expression of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-1)
molecules on the cells they infect, thereby protecting them from
attack by cytotoxic T-cells. French researcher Oliver Schwartz and
others found that the expression of the protein Nef by HIV was
necessary for this reduction of MHC-1. Nef, which is known to
stimulate the endocytosis of CD4, is required for maintaining high
viral loads and inducing AIDS, but is not necessary for viral
replication in vitro. The researchers report that, in the
presence of Nef, MHC-1 synthesis and transport occurred normally,
but the molecules were destroyed by the cell before they could be
expressed on the cell surface. Without this surface expression,
T-cells are not able to attack infected cells. The authors say
that the role of Nef in MHC-1 endocytosis, and the virus' ability
to escape the immune system, is a previously undocumented key to
HIV and AIDS.
"Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD in Africa"
Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS
Care (03/96) Vol. 2, No. 3, P. 25; Perriens, Joseph
At the Ninth International Conference on AIDS and STD in
Africa, more than 3,000 scientists, activists, and people with HIV
and AIDS reviewed what progress has been made in the battle against
AIDS in Africa. Most African countries are facing large and
growing AIDS epidemics and have limited resources to fight the
disease. One focus of the conference was the link between
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV, highlighted by a
study that found that communities with better STD services had
lower HIV incidence. Another focus of the meeting was AIDS
prevention and care in the community, in which people with AIDS
are active. Medical care for AIDS patients in most African
hospitals is inadequate, and a movement is now underway to bring
AIDS care into the primary healthcare system and the community.
Several studies revealed that many HIV-related deaths are the
result of preventable diseases, like bacterial infections and
tuberculosis. Also, women who exchange sexual favors for money
were found to have less ability than men to protect themselves
against HIV and STDs, a situation which could be improved through
use of vaginal microbicides and the female condom. The use of
anti-HIV drugs to prevent perinatal transmission of HIV was also
discussed, as was the impact of HIV on families and the economy.
"Teleconferences Share Info on Fighting AIDS"
Communications News (03/96) Vol. 33, No. 3, P. 52
More than 10,000 U.S. health care providers regularly
participate in the International HIV Clinical Conference Call
series, sharing news about the most recent developments in the
battle against AIDS. The U.S. Public Health Service sponsors the
toll-free conferences for health care workers in such facilities as
hospitals, clinics, prisons, and homeless shelters. The agency's
Capt. Abe Macher claims that the calls are the most efficient way
to keep people informed of the rapid developments in AIDS
research.
"AIDS Update: Absorbing News"
Men's Health (03/96) Vol. 11, No. 2 , P. 54
While vitamin supplement labels offer recommendations for
healthy people, people with HIV may need a higher dose. Dr. Mary
Romeyn, author of "Nutrition and HIV: A New Model for Treatment,"
says a body under stress requires more of the supplements.